ChatGPT uses 3 Wh. This is enough energy to: […]
Play a gaming console for 1 minute.
If you want to prompt ChatGPT 40 times, you can just stop your shower 1 second early. If you normally take a 5 minute shower, set a timer for 299 seconds instead, and you’ll have saved enough water to justify 40 ChatGPT prompts.
I recall all the same arguments about how much energy and carbon are involved in performing one Google search. Does anyone care? Nope.
I’ve always ignored the energy issue on the assumption that it will be optimized away. Right now, leapfrogging the competition to new levels of functionality is what’s important. But when (if?) these tools settle into true mass usage, the eggheads will have every incentive to focus on optimization to save on operating costs. When that finally starts happening, we will know that AI has passed out of its era as a speculative bet and into prime time as an actual product.
Regarding energy/water use:
(Source: https://andymasley.substack.com/p/a-cheat-sheet-for-conversations-about)
I recall all the same arguments about how much energy and carbon are involved in performing one Google search. Does anyone care? Nope.
I’ve always ignored the energy issue on the assumption that it will be optimized away. Right now, leapfrogging the competition to new levels of functionality is what’s important. But when (if?) these tools settle into true mass usage, the eggheads will have every incentive to focus on optimization to save on operating costs. When that finally starts happening, we will know that AI has passed out of its era as a speculative bet and into prime time as an actual product.